WSJ: U.S. Spies on Millions of Drivers
The Justice Department has been building a national database to track in real time the movement of vehicles around the U.S., a secret domestic intelligence-gathering program that scans and stores hundreds of millions of records about motorists, according to current and former officials and government documents.
The primary goal of the license-plate tracking program, run by the Drug Enforcement Administration, is to seize cars, cash and other assets to combat drug trafficking, according to one government document. But the database’s use has expanded to hunt for vehicles associated with numerous other potential crimes, from kidnappings to killings to rape suspects, say people familiar with the matter.
Officials have publicly said that they track vehicles near the border with Mexico to help fight drug cartels. What hasn’t been previously disclosed is that the DEA has spent years working to expand the database “throughout the United States,’’ according to one email reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
AP: Rauner previews ‘right to work zones’ as priority
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner says one of his priorities for his first year in office will be creating so-called ‘‘right to work zones” in the traditionally union-friendly state.
The Winnetka Republican spoke to students Tuesday at Richland Community College in Decatur. He says the speech previews some policies he’ll propose in his State of the State speech on Feb. 4.
Rauner supports creating ‘‘employee empowerment zones” where local communities could decide whether workers must join a union as a condition of employment. He says the zones would help improve both competition and job growth.
Daily Herald: COD to vote again on Breuder $762,000 severance package
College of DuPage trustees are expected to take another vote Wednesday on a controversial $762,000 buyout package for the school’s president, which has prompted a government watchdog group to urge officials to reject the severance deal this time around.
The college’s board voted 6-1 Thursday to accept the four-page agreement regarding the early retirement of President Robert Breuder. The deal calls for Breuder to be paid nearly three times his base salary when he retires on March 31, 2016 — roughly three years before his existing contract was set to expire.
But the college announced Monday that it’s holding a special meeting Wednesday night “to clarify a procedural motion to approve” the deal.
Real Time Economics: Joblessness Fell in Most States in December
The jobless rate fell in all four regions of the country last month, the latest sign of broad improvement in the overall economy.
Forty-two states and the District of Columbia saw their seasonally adjusted unemployment rates fall in December compared with November, the Labor Department said Tuesday, and 46 states saw a decrease from a year earlier. The rates rose in four states from November, and held steady in another four.
Delaware had the biggest decrease from last month, 0.6 percentage point to 5.4%, followed by Michigan and North Carolina, each of which fell 0.4 percentage point to 6.3% and 5.5% respectively. Illinois and Rhode Island saw the biggest declines over the year, while the rate actually increased 1.3 percentage points in Louisiana from December 2013.
Alton Daily News: Lawmaker Calls for No Library Funding
A proposed ordinance to the Chicago City Council would allow for some land to be used for a possible presidential library, but one state lawmaker says no public money should be used. The ordinance from Mayor Rahm Emanuel would allow President Obama’s library to be built on some land if the Library Foundation chooses the University of Chicago.
However, Republican State Representative Bill Mitchell says no taxpayer funds should go to the Presidential Library. Mitchell highlights the mounting budget shortfall for Illinois in the billions and says private funds should be used to build the library. Mitchell even went as far to tout the president’s fundraising skills as a need to keep tax dollars away from the project. A recent effort for Illinois to spend one-hundred million on the library was floated in the General Assembly last year. Officials in New York and Hawaii are also competing for the right to host the library.
Huff Post: Indiana Gov. Mike Pence Expands Medicaid Under Obamacare
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence on Tuesday became the latest Republican governor to accept an expansion of Medicaid to cover more poor residents under the Affordable Care Act.
Like the expansions in other Republican-led states, Pence’s plan doesn’t merely broaden Medicaid, but rather uses the federal funding available to remake the program. Enrollment starts immediately, and coverage begins Feb. 1. The expansion eventually will reach 350,000 people, Pence said when announcing federal approval for the proposal at a news conference in Indianapolis.
Republican resistance to the Medicaid expansion at the state level has worn down since a Supreme Court ruling in 2012 made this part of Obamacare optional for states.
WGN: Matteson looking to lay off police, firefighters
The village of Matteson is looking to make big reductions to both its police and fire departments, in what union leaders are calling a threat to public safety.
By the numbers, it’s 13 police officers and eight firefighters. Those may not sound like major layoffs but union leaders say the net effect will be to cut the police presence on the streets here in half.
Over the last few years, falling sales tax revenue and cuts in state and federal funding have left a $9 million hole here.
The Next Web: Google’s Waze is a ‘stalking app,’ claim US police
Sheriffs have accused Google’s Waze traffic app of being a stalking app and called for alerts that indicate when police are nearby to be switched off,reports The Guardian.
In 2013, Google acquired Waze, which combines GPS navigation with a social community, for $966 million. It offers free real-time traffic guidance and warnings about issues including congestion, car accidents, speed traps, traffic cameras, construction work, potholes and unsafe weather.
The complaints against Waze were triggered by Sergio Kopelev, a reserve deputy sheriff in Southern California, who believes the user-submitted reports about officers’ locations make it a danger to police